Best of the Best 2011

*According to Forbes.com listing of America’s Best and Worst Banks. And while it’s nice to be recognized by Forbes, we’d really prefer to be liked by you.

www.communitybankna.com

For the third year in a row, we’ve topped the listing of the Best Banks in America by Forbes magazine for

our financial performance. Community Bank was ranked the 4th best bank in the country, and the best bank

on the east coast.* We couldn’t have done it without you, so thank you to our customers and employees for

making us one of the best! Now that should bring a smile to anyone’s face. So stop in to your local Community

Bank branch today and Bank Happy.

Forbes Magazine ranked us the best bank east of the Mississippi.

Thinking about purchasing orrefinancing a home?Ask about our no closing cost mortgage!

Readers’Choice Awards

-THE DAILY STAR11

TUESDAY, JAN. 31, 2012

www.thepowellcompany.com

Continuingthe Proud

Powell Traditionof CustomerSatisfaction

We sincerely thank you for voting us the“Best of the Best” in 4 categories

BUSINESS WEBSITE • CONTRACTORHOME CONTRACTOR • ROOFING

POWELLCompany

The

“Doing it right for 40 years”

Call Now forFREE

ESTIMATES

219 River Street13820Oneonta, NY

607-432-83261-800-252-2140

The PowellCompany

BestBusiness Website

ContractorHome Contractor

Roofing

andand

and

BEST OF THE BEST PERFORMING ARTS

GROUP

MARDI GRAS GALA & AUCTION Saturday 2/18, 6:30-11:30pm

featuring… TOO MANY DIVAS & JUST THROW MONEY

AUDITIONS FOR HAIRSPRAY SUN 2/26 & MON 2/27, 6:30pm

WINTER BREAK THEATRE WORKSHOP Monday 2/20 - Friday 2/24, Children ages 7-12, 9am-5pm daily

PLAYWRIGHT PROJECT THEATRE FESTIVAL featuring THE ORACLE, a new play by Ellen D’Aquisto

THE ORACLE 3/16, 8pm - READINGS 3/17 - THE ORACLE 3/18, 2pm

SCHOOL HOUSE ROCK LIVE, JR. Arts-In-Ed Produc on for School Children, FRI 4/20, 10am

HAIRSPRAY SAT 5/12, 8pm & SUN 5/13, 2pm

Al

fresco’s Italian Bistro

Intr

432-8466

...for patients, children, friends, parents,

caregivers, relatives…

www.cahpc.org | 607.432.5525

On behalf of our entire staff, volunteers, board of directors, auxiliary, friends and donors, thank you for the honor of being chosen as The 2011 Readers Choice Best Non-Profit Organization. Our success is a true reflection of our wonderful community that supports our mission. A special thank you on behalf of over 300 families we we are privileged to Make Life Easier for each and every day.

Lola RathbonePresident / CEO

Sincerely, Lola

Thank you... www.cahpc.org | 607.432.5525

Voted Best of the Best 4 years running.

800.NBT.BANK www.nbtbank.comWe’d like to thank all our customers and readers of Th e Daily Star

for voting us the Best of the Best in the banking category.

(from left to right) Jolie Zorda, Oneida St. Assistant Branch Manager; Sarah Patterson, Mortgage Originator; David Delker, Wall Street Branch Manager; Emily Boss, East End Branch Manager; Jamie Reynolds, Regional Executive; Karen Babbitt, Commercial Banking Specialist; Lyle Smith, Southside Branch Manager; Kathy Keable, Financial Consultant; Geoffrey Rightmyer, Commercial Banking Relationship Manager

Thank you, Oneonta, for putting us fi rst again.

Member FDIC

www.nbtbank.com

Readers’Choice Awards

-THE DAILY STAR37

TUESDAY, JAN. 31, 2012

Best Brewery

Brewery Ommegang

Best Pet Supply Store

BrandowsThank You for making

THE #1 PET STORE IN 2011www.brandowsfeedandpet.com

4119 St. Hwy 7, Oneonta, NY607-432-3884

THERE IS A DIFFERENCE™

Sidney Federal Credit Union

www.sfcuonline.org • Toll Free: 1-877-642-SFCU (7328)

Our Mission: Dedicated to superior service, anytime, anywhere!

In a financial industry full ofapples... SFCU is an orange

PUT THE CREDIT UNIONDIFFERENCE TO WORK FOR YOU.

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2011 | VOLUME 5 | ISSUE 3

FREE

ALSO INSIDE:

Wine and Dine with Confidence

Holiday Tradition Burns Bright

Diary of a

BeekeeperDiary of a

Beekeeper

For more than 30 years, a unique event at The Farmers’ Museum in Cooperstown has offered an escape from the stress

of crowded shopping centers and overflowing holiday to-do lists. It is a tradition going back to December 1979 and known today as Candlelight Evening. The popular event started out as a stress-

buster with another name — and very little emphasis on candles. Bruce Reinholdt was an associate in the museum’s Education Department at the time, under the direction of Milo Stewart at the New York State Historical Association. “It is an event that evolved over a period of years by a group of us that created it,” said Reinholdt, who now lives in northwestern Connecticut. “We were trying to plan some new special events at both The Farmers’ Museum and what was then called the Fenimore House Museum.”

As Reinholdt remembered it, a concert was held at the Cornwallville Church, and a walkway was lit from the church to Bump Tavern with candles inside baby food jars, which were then placed inside decorative white paper bags. Refreshments were served after the concert in front of the tavern, including wassail from a kettle over an open fire.

“I began thinking on a more grand scale,” Reinholdt said. “This is nice, but what would be nicer is if we could light the whole Farmers’ Museum with some kind of candle or lantern and expand the event.”Grace Kull of Cooperstown was also on the

staff in the Education Department and recalled that the evolution of Candlelight Evening came from an event that was held annually during the 1950s around the holidays, called the Festival of the Nativity and Carol Sing.

by mark simonsonby mark simonson

A MagicalCandlelight Eveningat The Farmers’ Museum

Tradition:

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E V E N T

Ulla Kjarval is a NYC-based

photographer, food blogger

and advocate of grass-fed

farming. Her family operates

Spring Lake Farm in Meredith.

Ulla’s blog is titled Goldilocks

Finds Manhattan. She is

looking for local farms to

feature in this column. If you

have a favorite farm or want

to have your farm featured,

please contact her at

[email protected].

Cowbella Dairy Products has

become a recognized local

brand for its prize-winning

churned butter and its delicious

flavored yogurts, which change

with the seasons and are inspired

by local ingredients. And while the

name Cowbella is relatively new,

the farm that created it has been

around for almost 200 years. The

Danforth Jersey Farm in Jefferson

was founded in 1817. At the center

of the farm’s success today is

Shannon Mason, a young farmer

who has bucked the trend of rural

flight, coming back to her family’s

farm to make a living. Her son Gus

and daughter Daisy are the seventh

generation to live on the farm,

and it truly is a family affair, with

Shannon’s parents, uncle Russell

and her husband, Hamilton, all

living on the farm.

In today’s tough economic

climate, dairy farmers have to be

creative in order to make the work

they love profitable enough to be

sustainable. Developing a value-

added product seemed to be the

best option for Shannon and her

mother, Gail, who run the farm’s

yogurt and butter plant, helping

Cowbella capture more for its milk,

and protecting the farm from the

fluctuating nature of milk prices. The

two products complement each other

well, because the butterfat from

the milk is used for the butter, and

the remaining skim milk is made

into yogurt. On a recent visit, I was

struck by the family’s deep sense

of place and how the new plant is

an extension of the family’s love of

farming and community.

Cowbella dairy products are sold

in area specialty shops, grocery